Historic Preservation

The Otsego region is the birthplace of far more than baseball – at one time it was the western frontier of the fledgling United States, and perhaps most significantly, the home to one of the first great American novelists, James Fenimore Cooper. The landscapes, hamlets, and villages made famous by Cooper in his writings are largely unchanged since the early 19th century, and contribute substantially to the unique character of the Otsego region’s environment. Otsego 2000’s Historic Preservation program focuses on protecting and preserving the historic homes, barns, commercial buildings, hamlets, and land use patterns while encouraging preservation-minded planning and development to build on these considerable assets.